Rabbit. Bunny. Hare. Hazel-rah. Conejo. It’s my year! Every twelve years, each sign gets its turn, and 2011 is mine!

A lucky year should be entered into with deep thought, planning, gratitude, and MOST importantly, no expectations. For the definition of luck is, according to Webster: : a force that brings good fortune or adversity , the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual , favoring chance; also : SUCCESS . Luck is usually thought of as good. But adversity can also offer its own lessons. I have had adversity in the past years: grad school, divorce, single parenting two teens, the change of my job into something far more challenging, and finding it necessary to end a relationship I thought was going to last. All of these were challenges that I learned from, once I was ready to stand quietly and absorb the lessons.

Now I feel optimistic. I feel like I’ve weathered a huge storm and am still standing, beaten but whole. I’m planning a wonderful trip that involves 9 months of travel to Spain, Mexico, and South America. I’m as single as a girl can get, which means there is unlimited potential. I want to meet men, women, old and young people. I have plans to work at a 70-horse barn in Galicia, a yoga retreat in Argentina, as a companion to a 72-year old woman in Chile who likes to bake, and a pub in Peru. (Next blog I’ll share my resources!)

I’m shedding everything now. I wrote my letter of resignation to work yesterday. I am cleaning my files, throwing out pictures of my ex (and keeping some), I’ve lost 15 pounds. My house is making its way down to bare necessities as I purge and get ready to sell. I am like a beautiful exotic snake, shedding her skin, born again through the jungle of disappointment and facing a new life with a new body, new attitude. I’m lightness and hope. Sometimes what I’ve been through washes over me in a sudden curtain of sadness, but I turn and face it, sit with it awhile, and move back through to the sunshine. It’s time to learn to be me.

I reflect back to the past Years of Rabbits (age 12, 24, 36…) – what was going on? Well, at age 12 I got my first horse. At age 24, I was tired of New York and the night life, the futility of pursuing an acting career, chasing a distant dream and sleeping with famous men. I met my first “normal” boyfriend (not married or famous) and, again, I bought a horse. Hmmmm. At age 36, my kids were both in school and I got to go to school full time myself. I graduated from community college and started University, started my teaching program. I also (uh-oh) bought a horse, my beloved Juniper. I sense a dangerous pattern here…

But this year, I shall be travelling. I hope I won’t be tempted to import an Andalusian horse from Spain. I guess I won’t count on it, though! Maybe my year of the Rabbit is actually a year of the HORSE.

A good friend once told me “We only grow when we deal with difficulties & hardships. I read somewhere that the soul is like a container, and that when we deal with things in our lives it stretches from the inside as we push the limits of our understanding. But it never returns to its original shape. So, with every difficulty & hardship we become a bigger person – unless, of course, we just give up, and we can never do that. So, ultimately, when bad things happen to good people it is actually a sort of gift; an opportunity to become something bigger & better then what we were to begin with. And if we are here for any purpose, it is to grow & learn. Living an easy life doesn’t do that.”

When life is difficult, I remember this. I truly have no real problems. I just feel so much. It is a gift and a curse. When I love fall in love with someone, it takes over. The withdrawal from that kind of obsession is like withdrawing from a drug. I’m clean now. And ready to really discover who I am, on my own. I guess I’m ready to channel my inner rabbit.

No matter if it is your year or not, make it a good one. I send you all blessings! Whether your adventure be big or small, live it, know yourself, forgive those who have hurt you, and live a full and beautiful life. I’m starting on mine now.

Catnip

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About catnipkiss

I am a writer who is working on a travel memoir. I write about issues that speak to my soul: love, sex, yoga, spirituality, body image, dating and friendship, and more as it comes up! I love comments - thanks! What would YOU like to explore?